Mark sense time stamp



Dec. 19, 1967 L. B. DEAN 3,359,564

MARK SENSE TIME STAMP Filed Sept. 27, 1965 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 f? j FF' ll T- i I II I l J31 I l 1+1 1 I {i I ..i L rimll i I I l I I l I l L ,,1 ,:%E1::: 1 4 L. -n' J9", Y 1

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INVENTOR.

Zeaerfi. Deazz ATTORNEYS Dec. 19, 1967 L. B. DEAN 3,359,564

7 MARK SENSE TIME STAMP Filed Sept. 27, 1965 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 F INVENTOR.

ZasZefiiiDeazz [WW ATTORNEYS United States Patent O r 3,359,564 MARK SENSE TIME STAMP Lester Barton Dean, 1716 Noble Ave., Springfield, Ill. 62704 Filed Sept. 27, 1965, Ser. No. 490,413 3 Claims. (Cl. 346-81) ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE An apparatus for recording a time stamp on a recording medium by means of a plurality of continuous belts, each having a plurality of printing elements thereon, with only one printing element of each belt engageable with the recording medium at any given point in the travel of the belts. A drive mechanism provides synchronous, but different rates of travel to each belt, such that the several components of the recorded information are additive with one another to provide an indication of time.

This invention relates in general to a time stamp, and more particularly to an essentially electrical time stamp for use with automatic information processing arrangements, which is characterized by a continuous belt marked with an entry which is machine legible, thereby obviating the necessity of transcription and avoiding the need for card punching at the operator position.

The time stamp apparatus to be described herein is useful in many applications where time information is required to be processed into a computer for accounting purposes. One such requirement is in the timing and ticketing required for the proper billing of toll telephone calls.

Various elaborate systems are now in use for automatically timing and ticketing directly dialed telephone calls. However, for calls handled by a telephone operator such as person to person, collect, credit card or third number charge calls, the time duration and the ticket charges for these calls must be laboriously determined by manual procedures.

Generally, this requires manually transforming and transcribing information indicating elapsed time on a toll ticket into a form which then can be utilized by a computer to perform the actual billing. This is accomplished manually by one who reads the elapsed time indication from a time stamp on a toll ticket, and transforms this information into a form so that punched cards can be made up for computer processing. Thus, a time wasting and uneconomical operation is required to transform the elapsed time information on the toll ticket into a form which can be utilized by the computer.

It is, therefore, an object of the present invention to provide a mark sense time stamp which is machine legible and capable of immediate automatic processing.

Another object of this invention is to provide a continuous belt principle in a mark sense time device permitting immediate automatic machine conversion to a form required for computer processing.

A further object of this invention is to provide the application of information in the form of a mark to discrete positions on a tabulating card.

A still further object of this invention is to print and record elapsed time information'in a manner which facilitates computer processing.

Yet another object of this invention is to provide an arrangement wherein elapsed time is printed and recorded on a tabulating card in a mark sense manner which is capable of automatic computer processing.

Other objects and advantages of this invention and a fuller understanding of the nature thereof may be had by reference to the following detailed description taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.

. On the drawings:

FIGURE 1 is a plan view of apparatus for applying information in the form of a mark sense to a tabulating card.

FIGURE 2 is a sectional elevational view of the embodiment shown in FIGURE 1.

FIGURE 3 is a sectional elevational view taken along the lines III-III of FIGURE 2.

As shown on the drawings:

The apparatus to be specifically described hereinafter is useful in any application where it is desired to print and record information on a tabulating card in a manner legible to a computer so that the card carrying this information may be autom-atically processed. The invention herein contemplates the formation of a machine legible mark at discrete positions on a record medium whereupon the mark or marks are capable of conveying information. The mark or marks thus recorded on the tabulating card are in the form of a mark sense-each of the marks placed on the card having a particular significance according to the particular recording location on the tabulating card.

The application of this mark sense information to a tabulating card will now be particularly described as applied to the recording of elapsed time. However, it is to be understood that this description is given only by way of illustration to set forth one use for the invention, there being of course other uses to which the invention may be applied. The recording of elapsed time in a manner legible to 'a computer is particularly appropriate for use in the communication industry such as long distance telephone traffic where an operator is presently required to record such data which then must be manually transformed for machine processing.

Accordingly, one of the aspects of this invention is the recording of elapsed time information in the form of a mark sense to a tabulating card by means of continuous belts driven by a timing device. A time stamp in the form of a mark sense on the tabulating card permits the tabulating card to be immediately machine processed, without transforming information from the commonly used type of time stamp to a form legible to a computer.

Referring now to FIGURE 1, a mark sense time stamp apparatus is shown generally at 10 and includes a frame 11 upon which is mounted the mechanism to physically place a mark at a particular location on a tabulating card 12. The tabulating card 12 is of a type such as is used in the automatic computer processing of information recorded thereon.

Mounted on the frame 11 is a group of continuous belts 13. As is best seen in FIGURE 2, a synchronous motor 14 is securely attached to the frame by means of a bracket 15 and mounting screws 16. The synchronous motor 14 drives a shaft 17 which is journaled for rotational movement in a wall 18 of the frame 11 by means of a journaled bearing 19. Each of the belts 13 is driven by a sprocket type wheel gear train 20 which in turn is driven by the shaft 17 of the synchronous motor 14. The gear train 20 is a well-known device which in the par ticular arrangement herein described is set so as to ad- Vance each of the belts 13 in a step by step fashion from one location to another in accordance with a prescribed number of revolutions of the shaft 17. Thus the gear train 20 and the synchronous motor 14 form a timing arrangement.

The particular significance of the belts 13 is that they each relate to a certain designated time portion. The belts 21 and 22 are utilized for hour designations by attaching to these belts an hour designation 23 and an AM-PM designation 24, respectively. The remaining belts 25-27 are utilized to apply marks on the tabulating card 12 in particular locations so as to indicate a time stamp with a 1 hour elapsed time capability. This 1 hour limit has been chosen since it has been found that in most cases telephone calls will be completed within this limit. It is to be understood, however, that where it is desired to record longer elapsed time periods, it is only necessary to add additional belts.

In the arrangement shown in the drawings, the belts 25-27 are utilized to indicate tenths of a minute, units of a minute, andtens of minutes, respectively. The actual marking indication on the tabulating card is accomplished by marking bars 28-30 which are securely attached to the belts 25-27, respectively.

As has been previously mentioned, the sprocket type wheel gear train 20 is so arranged as to drive the belts 13 in discrete steps, or in other words in a jump advance manner to move the marking bars 28-30 from one marking position to another. In FIGURE 1 there is indicated the numerals to 9 marked on a platform 31 of the frame 11. It is not necessary, of course, that these numerals actually be marked on the platform 31, and they have been so indicated in FIGURE 1 merely to aid in il lustrating the time stamp arrangement according to this invention.

As an example of the significance of the relation of the position of the marking bars 28-30 to the marking positions indicated as 0 to 9 on the platform 31, the following can easily be realized. Belt 27 and marking bar 30 are synchronously driven by the motor 14 in a jump advance manner so as to indicate at selected data positions 0 to 9 on the tabulating card 12, which data positions correspond to selected marking positions 0 to 9 on the platform 31, a series of marks which convey information of elapsed time in tens of minutes. Therefore, the position of the marking bar 30 as shown in FIGURE 1 indicates a 10 minute time stamp. Similarly, the position of marking bar 29 indicates a 2 minute time stamp, and the position of marking bar 28 indicates 0.4 minute. Thus, the position of hour designation 23, AM-PM designation 24, and marking bars 28-30 indicate the time as being 10.12.4 A.M.

In operation the synchronous motor 14 drives the sprocket type wheel gear train 20 which in turn drives the belt 25 in a jump advance manner to position the marking bar 28 from one marking position to another. This is accomplished by sprockets 32 which protrude through holes 33 in the belts 13 to form a driving connection. Since the marking bar 28 designates tenths of a minute, the belt 25 is jump advanced from marking position 0 to marking position 9 within one minute, or from one marking position to another every 6 seconds. When the marking bar 28 reaches the marking position 9, another marking bar 28 on the belt 25 appears at marking position 0, and the marking bar 29 on the belt 26 is jump advanced to the next marking position to indicate one minute of elapsed time. Similarly, movement of the marking bar 29 from marking position 0 to marking position 9 indicates that a total time of 10 minutes has elapsed, so that the marking bar 30 on the belt 27 will be jump advanced to the next marking position to indicate ten minutes of elapsed time. When a full hour has elapsed, belts 21 and 22 are jump advanced to bring the next hour designation 23 and AM-PM designation 24 into marking position.

The mark sense time stamp thus provided finds particular use in the timing and ticketing of toll telephone calls. Upon receipt of calling information from a subscriber the operator inserts the tabulating card 12 into the frame 11 so that the belts 13 and corresponding marking arrangement places a time stamp on the card 12 when a toll call connection is completed and again when the call is later terminated. The mark sense time stamp information thus placed on the tabulating card 12 forms a finite discrete elapsed timemeasurement which is machine legible so that automatic machine processing of the elapsed time information can be readily accomplished for billing the subscriber, without requiring any transcription by clerical help or by the operator, i.e., the measurement thus formed constitutes a sensible intelligence formed on a recording surface which is a function of a predetermined elapsed time.

Thus, in this operation the operator inserts the tabulating card 12 onto the platform 31 until the back edge 34 of the card 12 butts against the the stop 35. Guide walls 36 and 37 securely position the card 12 so that data positions 0 to 9 on the card 12 correlate exactly with marking positions 0 to 9 on the platform 31.

In the arrangement shown, insertion of the card 12 in its marking position on the platform 31 raises a lever 38 which actuates a switch 39 to operate a solenoid 40. The actual interconnections between the switch 39, the solenoid 40, and a suitable power supply are not shown; however, these are obvious and require no skill in arranging. It may be noted in FIGURE 2 that the platform 31 is open at a marking location 41 so that the belts 13 may be driven through this location 41 against the tabulating card 12 to abut a marking block 42 and thus record a time stamp on the tabulating card 12.

Referring now to FIGURE 3 the time stamp is actually recorded on the tabulating card 12 through the utilization of the belts 13 which are wound around the sprocket type wheel gear train 20 at one end, and around a printing platen 43 at the other end. The belts 21, 22, 25, and 26 are guided by rounded edges 44 and 45 of the printing platen 43. However, since the belt 27 is used to designate tens of minutes, and is only required to indicate an elapsed time of 60 minutes, the belt 27 is guided by rounded edges 44 and 46 of the printing platen 43. Secured to the platen 43 is a pair of brackets 47 having oval slots 48. A pair of retaining screws 49 mount the bracket 47 to the wall 18, and yet allow the platen 43 to be guided in movements towards and away from the retaining screws 49.

The actual movement of the platen 43 is accomplished by the solenoid 40 and an actuating rod 50. With the tabulating card 12 on the printing platform 31 in proper position so as to operate the solenoid 40, the platen 43 is driven towards the card 12 to record a first time stamp indicating the time at which a toll call connection has been completed. The solenoid 40 is securely attached to the wall 18 by means of a bracket 51 and screws 52.

A marking ribbon 53 is wound from a reel 54, around a first guide 55, then between the belts 13 and the tabulating card 12, around a second guide 56, to a takeup reel 57. Thus, actuation of the solenoid 40 presses the ribbon 53 against the tabulating card 12 so as to mark the card 12 at the hour designation 23, the AM-PM designation 24, and the marking bars 28-30.

The ink for the marking ribbon 53 is of the type which permits the mark on the tabulating card 12 to be electrically machine sensed. A ribbon drive device 58 drives the takeup reel 57 to advance the ribbon 53 after each imprint. This ribbon drive device 57 is also controlled by the switch 39 and is supported to the frame 11 by means of screws 59. A windup key 60 is shown associated with the reel 54 which may be used to periodically wind the ribbon 53 back on the reel 54.

Thus, in the operation of the apparatus illustrated an initial time stamp will be entered on the card 12 by actuation of the solenoid 40 when the call connection is completed, and a final time stamp indication will be placed on the card 12 by actuation of the solenoid 40 when the call is later terminated. This operation has provided an indication of the duration of time between completion of the call connection and termination of the connection, which elapsed time information is indicated on a tabulating card in a mark sense form suitable for automatic computer processing.

The 9f the frame 11 is such as to permit insertion of the arrangement in a tollboard 61 at an operators position. This conveniently places the platform 31 at approximately the same level as a tollboard shelf surface 62. In some arrangements it may possible be more convenient to have the solenoid 40 and the printing platen 43 placed above the tabulating card 12. This, of course, can be simply arranged. Also, a 0 to 23 hour belt could be used instead of belts 21 and 22 to indicate the hour.

It should be understood that I wish to embody within the scope of the patent warranted hereon all such modifications as reasonably and properly come Within the scope of my contribution to the art.

I claim as my invention:

1. An apparatus for printing on a recording medium an information representative of time, comprising (a) a frame having a platform for supporting such a recording medium, said platform having an opening therein,

(b) a plurality of continuous belts mounted on said frame for movement in close relation to said platform across the opening therein,

(c) a plurality of printing elements mounted on each of said belts and spaced at least the Width of the opening and a suificient distance from one another such that only one of said elements on each of said belts is engageable with the recording medium at any given point in the travel of said belts, the width of said printing element being substantially less than the width of said opening,

(d) means for continuously driving one of said belts at a predetermined rate and another of said belts at a rate greater than said predetermined rate and in synchronism with one another, and

(e) means for urging each of said belts toward the recording medium to engage a respective one of said printing elements on each of said belts with the recording medium to form a mark sense at positions corresponding to selected data positions to indicate discrete periods of elapsed time, such that an information is recorded on the recording medium which is representative of time, the several components of each recorded information each being formed by a respective one of said printing elements and being additive with one another to form the representation of time.

2. An apparatus as defined in claim 1, further comprising a printing platen for supporting each of said belts along a given length of each,

said printing platen having a first given length at one point across the width thereof for supporting a first of said belts and a second given length at another point across the width thereof for supporting a second of said belts, said first given length being greater than said second given length.

3. An apparatus as defined in claim 2, wherein said recording elements on each belt are spaced 2. distance from one another approximately equal to the given length of said printing platen which supports the corresponding belt.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 870,667 11/ 1907 Darlington 346-104 1,137,962 5/1915 Geltz 346- 1,215,532 2/1917 Hitchcock et al. 346- 1,752,564 4/1930 Love 346-60 1,827,208 10/1931 Riebe 346-59 1,998,763 4/1935 Janson 58-125 2,355,514 8/1944 Deane et a1 58-125 2,454,025 ll/ 1948 Amend et a1 346-82 2,734,338 2/1956 Uhlig et al. 58-125 2,817,573 12/1957 Larsson 346-82 3,024,590 3/1962 Wynne 58-125 3,195,144 7/1965 Wales 346-82 3,241,151 3/1966 Logie et al 346-80 RICHARD B. WILKINSON, Primary Examiner. M. L. LORCH, Assistant Examiner. 

1. AN APPARATUS FOR PRINTING ON A RECORDING MEDIUM AN INFORMATION REPRESENTATIVE OF TIME, COMPRISING (A) A FRAME HAVING A PLATFORM FOR SUPPORTING SUCH A RECORDING MEDIUM, SAID PLATFORM HAVING AN OPENING THEREIN, (B) A PLURALITY OF CONTINUOUS BELTS MOUNTED ON SAID FRAME FOR MOVEMENT IN CLOSE RELATION TO SAID PLATFORM ACROSS THE OPENING THEREIN, (C) A PLURALITY OF PRINTING ELEMENTS MOUNTED ON EACH OF SAID BELTS AND SPACED AT LEAST THE WIDTH OF THE OPENING AND A SUFFICIENT DISTANCE FROM ONE ANOTHER SUCH THAT ONLY ONE OF SAID ELEMENTS ON EACH OF SAID BELTS IS ENGAGEABLE WITH THE RECORDING MEDIUM AT ANY GIVEN POINT IN THE TRAVEL OF SAID BELTS, THE WIDTH OF SAID PRINTING ELEMENT BEING SUBSTANTIALLY LESS THAN THE WIDTH OF SAID OPENING, (D) MEANS FOR CONTINUOUSLY DRIVING ONE OF SAID BELTS AT A PREDETERMINED RATE AND ANOTHER OF SAID BELTS AT A RATE GREATER THAN SAID PREDETERMINED RATE AND IN SYNCHRONISM WITH ONE ANOTHER, AND (E) MEANS FOR URGING EACH OF SAID BELTS TOWARD THE RECORDING MEDIUM TO ENGAGE A RESPECTIVE ONE OF SAID PRINTING ELEMENTS ON EACH OF SAID BELTS WITH THE RECORDING MEDIUM TO FORM A MARK SENSE AT POSITIONS CORRESPONDING TO SELECTED DATA POSITIONS TO INDICATE DISCRETE PERIODS OF ELAPSED TIME, SUCH THAT AN INFORMATION IS RECORDED ON THE RECORDING MEDIUM WHICH IS REPRESENTATIVE OF TIME, THE SEVERAL COMPONENTS OF EACH RECORDED INFORMATION EACH BEING FORMED BY A RESPECTIVE ONE OF SAID PRINTING ELEMENTS AND BEING ADDITIVE WITH ONE ANOTHER TO FORM THE REPRESENTATION OF TIME. 